Pro12: Ospreys vs Munster, Sat 3 Dec 6:30pm; Live on S4C/RTÉ

thomond2006

Munster:
Marcus Horan, Wian du Preez , Stephen Archer, BJ Botha, John Hayes,
Damien Varley, Denis Fogarty,
Donncha O’Callaghan, Mick O’Driscoll, Ian Nagle, Donnacha Ryan, Paul O’Connell, Billy Holland,
Peter O’Mahony, Niall Ronan, Tommy O’Donnell, Denis Leamy, James Coughlan,

Conor Murray, Tomas O’Leary,
Ronan O’Gara, Ian Keatley,
Scott Deasy, Danny Barnes, Will Chambers, Simon Zebo, Denis Hurley, Johne Murphy, Doug Howlett.

http://www.munsterrugby.ie/news/9733.php

Mafi not in the squad (injured?), no mention of Earls or Sherry either.

I'd like to see:
du Preez, Varley, Botha, Ryan, POC, O'Mahony, Ronan, Coughlan;
Murray, ROG, Zebo, Barnes, Chambers, Howlett, Hurley

Bench: Fogarty, Horan, Archer, DOC, Leamy, TOL, Keatley, Murphy

It should be a close to full strength side at least in preparation for the back to back against Scarlets.

Ospreys will be severely weakened with their Welsh internationals being away, but they have a side available that won most of its games during the World Cup so it will be a difficult game for Munster.

It's very important that Zebo gets a run in this game, he deserves it. Hurley played well at fullback last week so he should be retained also.

Podge_irl

Munster win by 8 with no try bonus please

thomond2006

I'd take that!

Fireball07

Rob Andrew

Butler and O'Dea the only ones who started the last day not included in the squad, for what it's worth. Mafi must surely be injured.

I still want to see:

du Preez, Varley, Botha, Ryan, POC, Leamy, O'Mahony, Coughlan;
Murray, ROG, Zebo, Barnes, Chambers, Howlett, Hurley

Replacements: Fogarty, Horan, Archer, O'Callaghan, TOD, O'Leary, Keatley, Murphy


Unlikely but I think Leamy has done enough to start and I'd like to see TOD involved more.

Cpt_Blackbeard

I don't really see any need in playing a completely full strength team, Ospreys will be missing their internationals so its a great chance to give a few fringe players a chance in a strong team.

I'd like to see something like:
1. WdP
2. Varley
3. Archer - After a good performance at the weekend, he deserves another shot. BJ on the bench in case he is needed
4. Ryan - Ball is in his court after DOC performance, he needs a good game to keep his place.
5. Nagle - Its never going to happen but, we can wish. We'll learn nothing with POC starting.
6. POM
7. Ronan - Hopefully he'll continue to lay down a marker.
8. Leamy - He ha been brilliant in his cameos and Coughlan hasn't reached the heights of last year.
9. Murray - While I'd like to see TOL's continued improvement, Murray is still learning his profession.
10. Keatley - Again, its unlikely but, its a similar scenario to POC.
11. Zebo - A good performance and its his jersey for the HC.
12. Barnes - If Chambers is our starting 13 for the HC, Barnes should be 12. No point having too NIQ centres if we can help it.
13. Chambers
14. Howlett
15. Hurley - Hopefully he'll be tested under the highball and come out victorious.

16. Fogarty
17. Horan
18. BjB
19. DOC - I don't think just dropping DOC will help him in the longrun
20. Coughlan - Hopefully he'll put his hand up.
21. TOL
22. ROG
23. Murphy

Throwing in Nagle probably isn't ideal as either as it will cause one first team player to miss out regardless of the permutation but, h needs to start getting gametime or he'll be forced to move on.

thomond2006

Well the lads need gametime before the HEC and usually Munster pick a strong team in the Pro12 the week before a Heineken Cup period.

I agree with you though, it would be nice to see a few fringe players getting more gametime.

Hype710

I'd hate to see Zebo dropped for this, has his flaws but I've no doubt he can become a great replacement for Howlett.

Cpt_Blackbeard

thomond2006 wrote: »

Well the lads need gametime before the HEC and usually Munster pick a strong team in the Pro12 the week before a Heineken Cup period.

I agree with you though, it would be nice to see a few fringe players getting more gametime.

Its all about finding the right balance. We can't play a severely weakened team or it will harm our HC preparation but, there no point in playing a full strength team either - We constantly hear that we are a team in transition, we need to see that transition taking place.

3/4 fringe players included in the team would be the best-case scenario for all situations.

profitius

This is a big games for Munster in terms of the playoffs. Losing is not only getting no points but letting their rivals pick up points. At least James Jones won't be reffing it.

I think the WRU are making their teams play too many games. LV cup, the international this weekend are 2 examples. This will catch up with them at the end of the season when every point counts.

thomond2006

Revenge on the cards too, Ospreys beat us in October at Thomond. I was there and it was a pretty horrible game to watch. Duncan Williams and Keatley were the halfbacks and they were poor, Keatley missed a few kicks. It was a weird night for the kickers as I think the ball came off the post 4 times from place kicks and drop goal attempts.

Micko threw a delightful intercepted pass 5 metres from the Ospreys line and Ospreys went down the length of the field and scored. Pretty much clinched the win.

ormond lad

Rob Andrew

http://www.munsterrugby.ie/news/9741.php

Munster Mix n Match Again
2 December 2011, 11:28 am
By The Editor

Last time, he sent out a side that showed 13 changes and this time around, Tony McGahan continues to ring the changes, his selection for Saturday's RaboDirect PRO12 clash with Ospreys seeing just eight of those who started against Edinburgh hanging onto their jersey.

There's just one change in the backline with Doug Howlett not surprisingly returning in place of Luke O'Dea who made an impressive try scoring debut against Edinburgh. It's upfront where most of the tinkering has been done with just two, the veterans Marcus Horan - winning his 200th cap - and Donncha O'Callaghan retained from last weekend's game.
Paul O'Connell is kept in reserve - as is Ronan O'Gara - and in his absence Peter O'Mahony wears the captain's armband on the number 8 jersey with Denis Leamy at blindside and Niall Ronan returning to the open flank.
Last weekend Donncha Ryan was left out to get over a slight foot injury but he's back to partner O'Callaghan and looking forward to a tough challenge. "They're always a tough side to take on, no matter where you play them but in their own back yard, more so."
"And I dont think it matters what side they put out," Ryan continues in reference to international duties that sees them shorn of their stars, "they'll still play the same brand of rugb. Physical when they want to be and expansive when they can."
"So I think we need to match them up front, take them on there and see where that gets us."
Munster: Denis Hurley; Doug Howlett, Will Chambers, Danny Barnes, Simon Zebo; Ian Keatley, Tomas O'Leary; Marcus Horan, Damien Varley, BJ Botha; Donncha O'Callaghan, Donnacha Ryan; Denis Leamy, Niall Ronan, Peter O'Mahony capt.
Replacements: Denis Fogarty, Wian du Preez, Stephen Archer, Paul O'Connell, James Coughlan, Conor Murray, Ronan O'Gara, Johne Murphy.

Cpt_Blackbeard

Its a good team with hopefully the right mix of development and experience.Nagle was never really an option but, hopefully he'll jump ahead of Micko in the selection order by the end of the season. I'd have prefered the starting and sub props were swapped but, its not a huge issue. Coughlan may be worried about his starting berth next week too.

Its interesting to see that TOL is starting ahead of Murray. Hopefully its only to give TOL gametime to help his continued improvement and Murray will keep the 9 jersey next week. Despite Murray inheriting Earls' label as the player to criticise, he has been very good. He is still making a few mistakes as, you would expect from a player of his experience but he always does at least one game/momentum changing thing a match.

CIARAN_BOYLE

Rob Andrew

ROG and POC on the bench, Zebo gets another game to claim the wing spot for the HEC, more gametime for Keatley and TOL and the lineout will have a big test, I wonder who will call it. Really looking forward to this one.

budhabob

Rob Andrew

ormond lad wrote: »

http://www.munsterrugby.ie/news/9741.php
Munster: Denis Hurley; Doug Howlett, Will Chambers, Danny Barnes, Simon Zebo; Ian Keatley, Tomas O'Leary; Marcus Horan, Damien Varley, BJ Botha; Donncha O'Callaghan, Donnacha Ryan; Denis Leamy, Niall Ronan, Peter O'Mahony capt.
Replacements: Denis Fogarty, Wian du Preez, Stephen Archer, Paul O'Connell, James Coughlan, Conor Murray, Ronan O'Gara, Johne Murphy.

Happy enough with that team. Good to see Hurley and zebo retained from last week. Its also good to see keatley get a run out again, he needs plenty of gametime.

thomond2006

Ospreys:
15 Barry Davies, 14 Tommy Bowe, 13 Andrew Bishop, 12 Ashley Beck, 11 Richard Fussell, 10 Matthew Morgan, 9 Rhys Webb,
8 Joe Bearman, 7 James King, 6 Tom Smith (c), 5 Jonathan Thomas, 4 Ian Gough, 3 Aaron Jarvis, 2 Richard Hibbard, 1 Duncan Jones.

Replacements: 16 Mefin Davies, 17 Cai Griffiths, 18 Joe Rees, 19 George Stowers, 20 Sam Lewis, 21 Tom Isaacs, 22 Sonny Parker, 23 Hanno Dirksen.

Munster:
15 Denis Hurley, 14 Doug Howlett, 13 Will Chambers, 12 Danny Barnes, 11 Simon Zebo, 10 Ian Keatley, 9 Tomas O'Leary, 8 Peter O'Mahony (c) 7 Niall Ronan, 6 Denis Leamy, 5 Donnacha Ryan, 4 Donncha O'Callaghan, 3 BJ Botha, 2 Damien Varley, 1 Marcus Horan.

Replacements: 16 Denis Fogarty, 17 Wian du Preez, 18 Stephen Archer, 19 Paul O'Connell, 20 James Coughlan, 21 Conor Murray, 22 Ronan O'Gara, 23 Johne Murphy.

Not considered because of injury: D Wallace, J Flannery, M Sherry, P Borlase, Darragh Hurley, Dave O'Callaghan, K Earls, F Jones, I Dineen, S Scanlon, T Smith.

I'm very happy with that side. Good to see players like Zebo and Hurley rewarded for good outings last week. Big chance for Zebo to solidify a wing spot for the Heineken if Earls doesn't make it back. I expect DOC will give everything in this game to try to get his place back. Coughlan's place might be in jeopardy too, he's been rather quiet for a while.

Also well done to Marcus Horan who will win his 200th Munster cap.

It's still a decent Ospreys lineup even with their glut of players missing, particularly at lock and the backs.

Munster should win, they have some serious impact to come off the bench, 19-23 are big names to come on with 15/20 minutes to go.

Webbs

Is a bit crap that what should be one of the prime matches of the Rabo12 is devalued by the loss of players from the Ospreys.

And thomond2006 surely Munster will be quaking in their boots at the thoughts of Sonny Parker and Dirksen coming on to change the game ;-)

Flincher

Rob Andrew

I'm looking forward to his. A win will leave us (assuming Leinster win) in second, and given Ospreys are down a few players, we should be looking to make up for that loss in October.

I wonder if Zebo is being given a serious shot at the 11 jersey for next week. He did well against Edinburgh, but Priestland could target him under the high ball, and George North would be a handful for any of our wingers. I hope he does well, and no doubt Tommy Bowe will be a good test for him.

Given Leamy's excellent form off the bench, POM's displays, and Ronan's resurgence, I think we could be looking at our backrow for next week.

Fireball07

Rob Andrew

That's a very good team imo. Only minor regret is that Nagle isn't playing but it's obvious McGahan doesn't fancy him atm and if he didn't play last week, he was never going to play this week.

But I like it, Ryan and DOC both get to play, whoever performs better will probably get the jersey for the HC. POM moving to 8 should be slightly interesting...hope getting shunted around the back row positions doesn't affect his form. Good to see Leamy get his reward too.

And I think the selection of Keatley is interesting but very promising. Let's see how he does with a very strong team, I'm hoping he can deliver.

And then Zebo and Hurley retain their places after good performances, Barnes and Chambers get to work on a centre partnership that looks like it could be our best one. I thought the back play the last day was much better than usual, even with the mistakes, it looked promising.

And then you've got POC, Coughlan, Murray and ROG to come off the bench. I'm quite confident of a win, and that worries me, disappointment is so much worse then.

phog

I'm happy enough with the Munster team coming as it does in between the H/C games it's about as strong as we could expect.

The main worry for me is Tommy Bowe and Andrew Bishop and then Tommy Bowe and Tommy Bowe.

In all seriousness Zebo could have his hands full in watching Bowe.

We need to get the win just to cancel out their win in TP.

profitius

I'm not convinced Zebo is ready for HEC yet. He looks a very good runner when given space but how will he do when there isn't much space is the key.

thomond2006

g'wan munster!!!!

Fireball07

Rob Andrew

profitius wrote: »

I'm not convinced Zebo is ready for HEC yet. He looks a very good runner when given space but how will he do when there isn't much space is the key.

Well, he's got to be given the chance so we can see. I can see him offering more of a threat than Hurley on the wing anyway.

yimrsg

Interesting to see how POM deals with captaincy, would have thought that DOC would be the obvious candidate given the line-up.

cgpg5

Well observed minute silence great to see..

durkadurka

I don't think the stadium announcer needed to ask the crowd for a minute silence there.

ed7890

yimrsg wrote: »

Interesting to see how POM deals with captaincy, would have thought that DOC would be the obvious candidate given the line-up.

POM has been captain a good few time this season sure, he was captain while POC was at the world cup.

John_Rambo

cgpg5 wrote: »

Well observed minute silence great to see..

Was that for Gary Speed?

Fireball07

Rob Andrew

yimrsg wrote: »

Interesting to see how POM deals with captaincy, would have thought that DOC would be the obvious candidate given the line-up.

I don't know if I'd ever have DOC as captain. POM was captain during the World Cup ahead of MOD who would always be ahead of DOC.

Burgo

John_Rambo wrote: »

cgpg5 wrote: »

Well observed minute silence great to see..

Was that for Gary Speed?

Yeah.

thomond2006

Ryan has made a good start.

yimrsg

ed7890 wrote: »

POM has been captain a good few time this season sure, he was captain while POC was at the world cup.

Didn't know he was captain earlier in the season. My thoughts was Ruddock's form dipped with the responsibility of captaincy.

Fireball07 wrote: »

I don't know if I'd ever have DOC as captain. POM was captain during the World Cup ahead of MOD who would always be ahead of DOC.

I was thinking that DOC captained the lions midweek team so he at least has done it before.

bleg

Ref is awful

thomond2006

Just short from Keatley.

Fireball07

Rob Andrew

Hopefully he can make up for it this time.

thomond2006

Keatley misses again.

Fireball07

Rob Andrew

Good play there but silly forward pass from Keatley...

thomond2006

Panicky there from Keatley, good carry from Ryan in the buildup.

Tommy Bowe nearly got an intercept try earlier.

Gelio

Question on the rules, for munsters 2nd penalty attempt at goal why was that a penalty? Was it not just a forward pass?

Fireball07

Rob Andrew

ajeffares wrote: »

Question on the rules, for munsters 2nd penalty attempt at goal why was that a penalty? Was it not just a forward pass?

The guy who caught it was coming from an offside position.

Fireball07

Rob Andrew

Varley off for 10 minutes.

thomond2006

wtf Varley?!

yimrsg

POM must be light as a feather!

Fireball07

Rob Andrew

Ref is annoyed by Leamy...nothing new there.

Gelio

Fireball07 wrote: »

The guy who caught it was coming from an offside position.

He was in front of his team mate on the ball so is it not just a forward pass?

Benny Cake

Rob Andrew

Moronic from Varley, Leamy need to keep his gob shut too!

CIARAN_BOYLE

Rob Andrew

Don't worry Ospreys are still worse than Munster in the fair play table

Gelio

Stupid penalty

thomond2006

Love how O'Leary makes such a nuisance of himself on opposition scrum feeds.

CIARAN_BOYLE

Rob Andrew

Leamy makes way for Fogarty in the scrum

thomond2006 wrote: »

Love how O'Leary makes such a nuisance of himself on opposition scrum feeds.

Love this.

thomond2006

Short from Morgan from a long distance attempt.

The game is dead atm.

Burgo

thomond2006 wrote: »

Love how O'Leary makes such a nuisance of himself on opposition scrum feeds.

Yeah himself an boss have really mastered the art of being a pain in the arse at scrum time :pac: